press release
Browne Jacobson helps Arla Foods challenge Flora’s misleading advert
3 March 2009
Browne Jacobson has helped Arla Foods in its successful
complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over
Unilever’s recent television advertising campaign for Flora
Buttery.
The complaint by Arla, one of 30 received by
the ASA, centered on claims that Unilever’s product was preferred
to one of their own products, Lurpak Lighter Spreadable.
The advertisement, which featured celebrity
chef Gary Rhodes, relied on a sample of just 200 people – out of
which 90( 45% ) preferred Lurpak Lighter Spreadable and 14
(7%) had no preference at all. That resulted in the claim relying
on a difference of just 6 people.
The ASA agreed with Arla Foods that the sample size was
insufficient to support the ‘preference’ claims being made in the
advertisement and was likely to mislead.
According to the ASA there was “no evidence to demonstrate
that the results were statistically significant to qualify the
claim that ‘more people prefer’ Flora Buttery in the context of the
survey.” It concluded that the “ad should not be broadcast again in
its current form”.
Fiona Carter, Head of the Food and Drink Group at Browne
Jacobson, worked alongside Tanjot Soar, Head of Legal at Arla
Foods.
Fiona Carter said : “As well as being great news for our
client this case does highlight the responsibility traders have in
ensuring that they do not make statistically insignificant claims
that not only mislead the public but also try to gain an unfair
competitive advantage.”
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